Located on the outskirts of Graeson’s Fingers, the poshest neighborhood in Skyside, the extravagant Longhorn Lounge is intended solely for rodeo champions, their patrons, and their guests. Since only members and their guests are allowed entry to the Longhorn Lounge, you'll need to think of a clever way to get in!
Royken looks around at the women and sees that none of them seem all that interested in riding their way in.
"F*$~ me," he mutters. "Let's get this over with; this way has the least chance of us getting caught and kicked out."
He scowls as he heads for the bucking broncos.
"Listen you little piece of goblin s@#&," he growls to it, "if you throw me off, I'm going to turn you into f~~&ing glue. And feed whatever's left over to a dragon. If you're lucky, it'll be in that order!"
He mounts, giving it his most powerful glare, enough to subdue it into letting him stay mounted.
Lora's eyes practically gleam when Roykin decided to become a champion. She had been filtering through the list of people she knew with access (and would still talk to her) and the list was distressingly slim. She does accompany Roykin to the event, purchasing buttered popped corn to munch on, only to fling it in delighted wonder to see him buck and flay. She cheers herself hoarse, then give the champion a smoother hug "That was F&++ING amazing!!" she exclaims.
"Damn right it was. What did you expect?" he says in his usual hard-to-tell-if-he-expects-an-answer voice.
Royken wins the grand prize at the rodeo—10 gp! Afterwards, the owners of the Longhorn Lounge invite him and his companions to celebrate his victory in style! The other patrons of the posh club cheer the dwarf’s name! ”Royken! Royken! He’s here! He’s there! He’s every-f&$$ing-where!”
Royken looks around at the people chanting his name, and runts. He gives them a nod of acknowledgement, and then -- as the cheers continues -- a slow wave as he heads into the crowd -- deliberately away from his companions.
Lora slips her arm in Royken, being the candy by his side, as long as he is willing to tolerate it. It gives her the IN to talk to those the frequent the place, a person that knows the new champion, and can give the details the stoic dwarf would not.
She doesn't of course, because she does want to keep in his good graces. Vague answers, twisting to a joke, and then subtle pressure to the topics she wants to talk about. 'The Punks'
Lora is a natural hobnobber, so it doesn't take her long to learn about the Powderkeg Punks. One of the patrons remembers seeing an armor-clad clockwork monkey goblin come in with one of the members recently. The patron remembers the gun‑toting clockwork gangster’s face well, but she was too distracted to remember who brought the gangster in. The staff keeps a list of members, the patron remarks, including banned members—maybe they’d know who allowed such an uncouth guest into the Lounge? There was one other thing: as the gangster was being escorted out, he kept shouting they “should have met at Widgetworks,” wherever that is.
The smooth-talking bard quickly sidles up to a staff member and convinces them to give her a copy of the list of banned members. Perhaps somebody at one of the other locations of interest might recognize one of the names on it.
"That was both fun and enlighting." Lora exclaims after the We Love Roykin party is over. She goes over all the details about what she learned and hands the list of banned members around, only slightly miffed that her own fall from grace didn't warrant an official banning.
"So where to now? We have Blythir College, where they have been seen almost burning down the apothecary. Hot Foot Hippodrome, where they like to hang out, presumably to dance. And this new mention of Widgetworks. Any others?"
"The Blythis College?" Eva asks. "Keep to the places where they are not welcomed first?"
Royken grunts in agreement with Eva's suggestion.
"Makes sense. And then we'll make sure they've worn out their welcome everywhere else," he growls.
You head to the campus of Blythir College and make your way to Ryka's Reagants. This quaint alchemy shop doubles as a bookstore for the school and is located just beyond the main campus. The owner, Ryka, is an amicable tengu who keeps in touch with most of the college's successful graduates.
She cocks her head as you enter the shop. "Welcome. How may I help you fine folks today?"
"Yeah, we're looking for some punks," Royken replies without preamble.
Ryka ruffles her feathers. "You don't mean the Powderkeg Punks, do you? Those hoodlums were around here about a week ago, loitering outside and lighting things on fire. A couple of them came in here and purchased some alchemist’s fire, then threw it right in the middle of the street, just out there! Almost burned the neighborhood down.”
The tengu seems to be in a right tizzy!
Lora takes on an Aghast face, "Just right out there? Why? That both seems insane and a financial waste, they just bought it!" Lora leans over the counter, looking at the odds and ends around, like she is getting ready to buy something. "I can't imagine thugs like that frequent a place like this often. Maybe a student is brushing up against a wrong crowd?"
"Yeah. Do you know anything else about them? Where'd they go after they blew up the street?" Royken grates. He doesn't seem to acknowledge the tengu's heightened state of emotion, assuming she'll be able to calm herself down.
Ryka shrugs. "I don't know where they went, but good riddance!"
When you show the tengu the member list from the Longhorn Lounge, she recognizes only one name on the list: Shoma Lyzerius. She mentions Lyzerius was in about a week ago to pick up a large order. "He's working on what he calls his magnum opus. Some half-baked explosive compound," Ryka sighs, unimpressed.
There doesn't seem to be anything else helpful Ryka can tell you.
"Thanks," Royken says, with a decisive nod. "Let's go find this Widgetworks."
Eva was silent during the exchange, looking around. "Sure." She answers to Royken's suggestion.
You are on your way to the Widgetworks when a pallid young man with piercing gray eyes approaches you. He has several scars and tattoos, and a short-haired cat walks by his feet. He holds up a brooch with Foebe Dunsmith's personal mark--the same sigil you showed to Gattlebee to convince him that you could be trusted.
A lovely young woman with red hair, dressed a padded vest over a green dress, places her hands on her hips and frowns at the stranger's arrival. "We are progressing at a rather brisk pace, I believe, given what we have to work with. If the great Ms. Foebe is dissatisfied with our performance, please relay what she can do with that dis-" she stops, suddenly unsure her initial reaction was correct. "Excuse my manners. Lora Drown at your service" she gives a quick curtsey and decides to curtail her mouth until she knows more.
Royken grunts in displeasure as he's saddled with someone else he's going to have to keep out of trouble.
"Well, if you're coming, come along. We've got a lot of f~!~ing work still to do today!" he growls at the stranger with Dunsmith's mark.
I hope she doesn't just have a whole s***load of things things left scattered that people can pick up and f$~% around with...
He eyes the newcomer warily.
"Yes, a lot of f*$#ing work, as my friend puts so eloquently. Are you here to help?" Lora raises an artful eyebrow in question, though her mind is impatiently adding 'or just gawk like a moon drunk something another'
"Excuse my manners. Lora Drown at your service" she gives a quick curtsey and decides to curtail her mouth until she knows more.
The sudden shift in tone followed by the curtsy puts a smile on the man's face. The then complete juxtapositional response by the dwarf causes him to crack up. "Heh! Why yes, yes I am. My name is Bly'gha Sa'hir, and our mutual acquaintance believes I can be of assistance. I am a wizard by trade, although I do dabble in the alchemical arts. And this here," Bleach says as he beams a smile at the cat. "This is Hadi. Hadi, say hello, please."
In true cat-like fashion, the cat stares at the three strangers and refuses to open his mouth. Bleach is not exactly nonplussed by the cat's refusal, but has trouble not rolling his eyes at his feline companion. "I ensure you, he can talk. Later, perhaps, when Hadi is more at ease in your company. Where were you going, if you don't mind me asking?"
Awfully polite, this one.
Lora listens, her eyes watching as her mind catalogs, "Widgetworks. Investigating the volatile punks with pyromaniacal tendencies that attempted to kill us not long ago. Did our employer fill you in?" she fishes for more information.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lora's question is answered by a sharp nod, but Bleach does provide some verbal elaboration. "Somewhat, yes. You're on a mission to find the Powderkeg Punks, and they're an unruly lot at the best of times. As to why you're after them, I know enough to know it matters."
Yes, it matters, alright. Fulfilling this mission might help the city to get rid of that awful bastard Mugland. That, and acquiring the gold Foebe promised won't hurt. His wizardly and alchemical undertakings are costly. The dream to acquire enough wealth so he can run away to Absalom still resides within him, childish as it might be. This is home now. It ain't pretty, but it is what it is, and it's close enough to Geb so that if things change ... when things change ... if ever, whenever ...
"Say, before we stumble into any trouble, I do bear with me some alchemical concoctions. One, eh, one of them is a mutagen that has an effect akin to putting on a suit of armor, only it doesn't restrict your movements. It does dull your senses and reflexes somewhat, admittedly, but I've seen it stop swords and bullets before. I am not, of course, saying that it makes you bulletproof."
Eva tries to remember the newcomer's name, even if she sucks at with names and his is particular tricky. "Please, tell me you have a nickname... I'm Evalina, or just Eva preferably." She says, joking. Her hair is long and something between brown and red. Her ears are subtly pointed and she is a bit taller than average. Adding this to a somewhat natural presence and a striking beauty, marks her for sure as one with elven blood... her body, however, is not elvish at all, being curvy a full on the right places. Eva is wearing a breastplate and an overcoat on top of it, even if the weather would not require it.
The cat finally speaks when Eva asks for a nickname. Its voice is like a warm purr and not entirely human - which, with it being a cat, isn't exactly surprising. "Bleach. The name was given to him when ...", but a sharp look by the wizard causes the cat to shut up.
To spite the wizard, the cat walks over to Eva and rubs its back against the back of her boot. In answer to that, Bleach scratches his (own) scruffy face. "Fine, be like that, Hadi. Anyway, you may call me Bleach. Geb names are known to torment the tongue and I wish you no harm."
He straightens his vest and taps over the various pockets and patches to ensure all his (alchemical) belongings are in place. Unlike Eva, he's not wearing any armor, and the clothes he's wearing were clearly picked because they're functional. Plenty of pockets, sturdy, and plain enough that he won't stand out in a crowd.
Bleach has brought with him a missive from Foebe recalling Crystal for another mission of import. The dhampir says a quick goodbye before leaving the group.
The four of you continue on towards your original destination. When Widgetworks, the gnome home convenience enterprise, went bankrupt a decade ago, gangs arrived in droves to loot their warehouse, though all they found were ingenious-yet-unpopular devices that failed to interest the Alkenstar market—hand-crank egg whippers, steel-clad reusable tindertwigs, leg‑powered horse machines, and so forth. Eventually, the Old Widgetworks Warehouse, as it soon became known throughout the Ferrous Quarter, was then used as a hideout by numerous gangs until the Bank of Abadar finally abandoned the property altogether.
The warehouse is in a rough part of the Ferrous Quarter where shieldmarshals rarely patrol. Travelers passing by the Widgetworks tend to keep their hoods and collars up and their eyes on the road. There are two obvious entrances to the warehouse: the front door and side loading doors.
Eva crouches to scratch behind Hadi's ears and at its back, close to its tail. "We are going to be very good friends, aren't we?"
---
Eva looks around, paying attention to the people around, trying to figure it out if they were being watched.
There doesn't seem to be anybody watching you out on the streets. However, Eva notices a slide in the front door, seeming to indicate that a sentry is waiting on the other side to prevent access to unauthorized individuals.
Moving to check the side loading doors, it becomes clear that they are firmly nailed shut from the inside and would take quite a bit of effort to get through.
Royken's scowl remains on the dwarf's face, not hidden at all by his neatly trimmed black beard, as the cat tries to cozy up to Eva.
A man shows up, and looks like she's still getting more pussy, so that'll make her happy... he thinks, before dismissing the thought with a quick glance at the woman and cat.
At Widgetworks, he glances at the others.
"Maybe we try to get in like normal f*&%ing people, like we did at the Longhorn Lounge."
He rubs a hand through his short-cropped black hair, seeing what the others thing.
"It is just crazy enough it might work" Lora says with mirth, and moves up to the front door, attempting to remember all she can about this place.
There’s not much else Lora is able to recall. A knock on the door elicits a slide panel to open and a pair of beady eyes to peer out. ”What’s the password?” a gruff voice demands.
"No idea, but I am attractive with plenty of money and a definite lack of morals." she flashes a lovely smile "Is that enough?"
Seeing as his new companions are people of action, Bleach tries to switch gears and get up to their speed. The cat darts away from Eva and flies, spreading a pair of ghostly wings, to its master.
He tries to stay out of the bouncer's sight when Lora knocks on the door. Somehow he's got a feeling the bouncer wouldn't be too attracted to him.
"Yeah, you're hot," the voice agrees. "Oh, s%+#, wait! You're the ones I'm looking for! Brick Blaster said he wants to see you, personally!"
The panel slides shut, then the man unlocks and opens the door. He is surprisingly young, with boyish good looks. "Come in, come in!"
This decrepit room looks as if it used to be a brightly painted lobby. Now, burn marks and graffiti smear the once-brilliant yellow paint, and the windows have been boarded up with rotted wooden planks. The bouncer leads you through a sturdier door that leads further into the decrepit warehouse.
This spacious warehouse has been cleared of most shelving units and storage niches, pushing all the barrels, crates, and debris to the corners of the room save for a ten‑foot‑tall flattened pile constructed from crates and detritus on the east side of the vast space. Atop this crude stage is an elaborate throne constructed from discarded scraps of twisted, burned clockwork creatures.
A U-shaped catwalk hangs from the ceiling, suspended on cables twenty feet above the warehouse floor. Tall ladders at either end allow access to the swaying catwalks. A free‑standing ladder lying on its side is nestled in the southeast corner.
Crates are stacked in front of nailed-shut loading bay doors to the north. In the center of the warehouse, an eight-foot-wide sewage drain has been carved into the stone floor; the space around the drain is stained with a combination of alchemical fluids and blood.
Four raggedy hooligans peer down from the catwalk above as their leader—a monkey goblin clad in peculiar brass machinery resembling plate armor—rises to his feet atop a “throne” of clockwork junk. He rubs the grey-brown fur around his green eyes before speaking, his voice surprisingly deep for a goblin. “Do my eyes deceive me, or did you actually track me down? Hoo hoo! You must either want to kill me...” The hooligans above chortle and jeer, cocking the hammers of their pistols and licking their vials of alchemist’s fire intimidatingly.
“...or you just want to know why.” The leader’s tail swishes back and forth excitedly. “Why, that is, would a bunch of powder-snortin’, fire-lightin’ hoodlums like us care about some eggheaded book-thumper? Am I right?” He idly fingers a delicate key in his clockwork armor, then his face brightens suddenly, as though a thought just occurred to him. “Give you a deal? One time only! You fight Bitey, my pet snake I stole fair and square. Whoever survives can ask me questions! Deal?” His eyes dart between your party and the large pair of double doors to the west.
"Deal." Eva answers. She isn't eager to fight the snake, but if the alternative is fight all of them and the snake, the first offer is a good deal.
"Oh, f$@~ me," Royken complains. Be he's ready to fight. He figures they'll have to one way or another and Bitey seems like a fairer battle than a barrel full of monkey goblins and punks.
The monkey goblin grins and claps his hands. He sits back and pulls a lever integrated into the throne. The doors to the west open by a mechanism in the warehouse as an enormous, white-scaled cobra emerges! It hisses as the Punks begin to make bets on who will come out on top!
Bitey slithers forward before rearing up, flaring her hood! She then lunges at Royken, scoring a critical hit!
Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
Success: The creature is frightened 1.
Failure: The creature is frightened 2.
Critical Failure: The creature is frightened 3.
HP 0/49
AC 20
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +8 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 8 rounds
Effects: poisoned stage 1 (DC 22), dying 1
"Aargh, f%++ you, you bloody stirge!" Royken growls, getting ready to slam the creature -- before suddenly stiffening for a moment and collapsing bonelessly to the ground.
Intimidated by the sheer size of the monstrosity, Bleach instinctively takes a step back. Yes, he has seen horrifying undead creatures, but nothing prepares you for an enormous cobra that's out to eat you!
Nevertheless, he focuses on a spell and conjures forth a blasted undead. If the cobra turns its attention to it, great. If not, perhaps it will get lucky and manage to paralyze the hooded bastard!
Lora was reaching for her pistol when she saw Royken go down. She forces her soothing magic down his throat mentally as she weaved her magical song around the others.
HP 23/49
AC 20
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +8 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 8 rounds
Effects: frightened 1, poisoned stage 1 (DC 22), wounded 1
Royken groans as the momentary blackout passes. He knew he was too damn tough for a stupid biting worm to really hurt him. Just a little dizzy.
Groaning, he grabs his gun and pushes himself to his feet and fires a shot, grimacing as some of the pellets hit him.
HP 15/49
AC 20
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +8 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 8 rounds
Effects: poisoned stage 2 (DC 22), wounded 1, drained 1
"What the f~+!!" Eva can't help but exclaim as the cobra brings Royken down in a single hit. Against the common sense, however, she bolts towards the snake, punching it and then raising her shield.
Eva punches the cobra hard as she raises her shield. Bleach summons a ghoul which lightly raked the snake with a claw. Lora gets Royken back on his feet. The dwarf blasts the cobra with his gun, even as the venom continues to wrack his body.
The cobra lunges at Royken again, its fangs piercing his neck once more, though he fends off its follow up attacks.
HP 11/49
AC 20
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +8 (bravery)
Hero points: 2
Ammo: 8 rounds
Effects: poisoned stage 1 (DC 22), wounded 1
"Grrr," Royken growls, before stepping in and slamming his gun into the creature. He follows it up with another blow, trying to force the snake back.
As always the words do not matter to weave her inspirational magic, just the verbalizing of some. So the red head asks a question that in her head at the moment for some reason.
"I heard snakes taste like chicken. Has anyone ever had one before?"
She also draws her pistol, lines up a shot and fires.
Bleach commands and directs his minion to bite and paralyze the oversized handbag. He then weaves a spell and launches a ray of frost at the cobra.
Taking advantage of the snaking focusing Royken and the flanking provided by the ghoul, Eva punches as fast and as hard as she can with her arm!